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Milan Newton “William” Ogle (age 36), his wife Margaret “Maggie” Elizabeth Miles Ogle (age 32), and their three young children suffered one of the most complete and tragic losses in the SS Valencia maritime disaster of January 22–23, 1906. This infamous shipwreck off the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, claimed approximately 136 lives when the coastal passenger steamer ran aground in heavy fog and broke apart in pounding surf. All women and children aboard perished, including the entire Ogle family. Their story, reconstructed from contemporary newspapers, survivor testimonies, and modern memorial records, stands out for the initial uncertainty in identifying the children’s bodies, the poignant accounts of a small boy left aboard, and the quiet heroism shown toward one of the children.

The Ogle Family

Milan Newton “William” Ogle was born in November 1869 in Illinois. According to the 1900 U.S. Census in Fresno County, California, his father was born in Ohio and his mother in Indiana. By the late 1890s, he had moved to Washington state.

His wife, Margaret Elizabeth “Maggie” Miles Ogle, was born January 5, 1874, in Edmonson County, Kentucky. She first married W. D. Johns on May 24, 1891, in Edmonson County; that marriage ended in divorce, after which she reverted to her maiden name. On September 25, 1898, she married Milan N. Ogle in King County, Washington.

The couple had three children: Ray Ogle (born August 1899 in Washington; died January 23, 1906, at sea, aged 6). He is often described as the oldest boy. Neita (Nita) Ogle (born 1901; died January 23, 1906, at sea, aged about 4–5). Carl Ogle (born 1904; died January 23, 1906, at sea, aged about 1–2). The family was traveling together from San Francisco to Seattle on the Valencia.

The Family’s Final Hours and Survivor Accounts

Survivor testimonies paint a heartbreaking picture. The Ogle family attempted to escape in one of the lifeboats shortly after the ship struck. Which lifeboat is not known, however some clues indicate that they were on lifeboat #1. Frank Lehn, one of the Valencia survivors described the launching of lifeboat #1 in detail:

"Try the starboard quarter boat," sang out the captain, and with a will the men rushed to this boat and loosed her from the lashings. Working between waves and watching their chance, the sailors finally succeeded in swinging her clear.

‘Women and children first,’ was the cry of the officers, and from the rigging the poor frozen creatures were tenderly, if roughly, lifted down and placed in the boat. Some of them were weeping, most of them were praying, and it was well that they did. Only enough men to manage the craft went on board. There was no rush. The officers were prepared to stop it with bullets if it had occurred, but the passengers seemed endeavoring to see who could be the most self-sacrificing. At last the boat was loaded. Fathers cried goodbye to their children, husbands bade adieu to their wives. Few words could be heard above the roar of the elements, but in the blinding glare of the searchlight every detail was distinct as possible.

That picture of the crowded boat as she swung from the davits with its load of women, children and a few men, burned itself even now in my brain. I can see them even now, there in the dark water, with its angry sweep and crest of foam, its black cliffs only a hundred yards away where the spray dashed up a hundred feet, the wreck with its burden of suffering humanity. Oh, it was awful!”

Then the order was given to lower away. Skillfully the sailors started, watching their chance and guiding the craft from every great care. Suddenly a cry from every soul on board penetrated the night. The stern falls had broken and she was slipping. We were frozen with the horror of it. Like a shot the stern of the boat fell to the water’s edge, leaving the bow hanging high in the air. The occupants were spilled out like pebbles from a glass and fell with shrieks and groans into the boiling surf. The next wave swept them away, and where the glare of the searchlight played on the water we could see the white, terrified faces of the drowning people flash by with the look of deathly fear such as is seldom seen.

It happened in an instant. All was over before any could even move. Thirty persons had been swept to their doom before our startled eyes and we stood trembling and mutely praying.

After the launching of the lifeboats all but one of the Ogle family survived. Though the identity of the little boy was a mystery, he was described by several survivors in the weeks after the disaster. This boy was almost certainly Ray Ogle, the oldest of the Ogle children. Grant Willits, another Valencia survivor also remembered the Ogle family:

“One of the most pitiable incidents was that of a little boy of about five years old.  His father, mother and two little sisters put off in one of the boats.  The boat capsized and all were drowned.  The little fellow walked around the deck crying for his mother.  The last I saw of him he was clinging to the rigging."

Miss Laura Van Wyck (a San Francisco woman traveling to visit family). In an article published in the San Francisco Chronicle (January 30, 1906), she was remembered as the “girl with the gray coat” who, along with the stewardess, tried to cheer passengers during the dangerous hours after the wreck. She cared for a little boy whose mother had been lost — keeping him with her, trying to keep him warm, and singing hymns at night. This little boy was Ray Ogle. Miss Van Wyck and Ray Ogle did not survive the final breaking up of the Valencia at about noon on January 24^th 1906.

Recovery, Identification, and Burials

Bodies were recovered over several days and brought to Seattle and Victoria aboard vessels such as the Princess Beatrice. Identification proved difficult and emotional. Early February 1906 reports noted uncertainty over two children’s bodies initially thought to belong to the Ogles. James Ogle (Williams brother visited the morgue and was not convinced they were his brother’s children. The remains were held open for inspection until unmistakable identification could be made. By February 4, Carl and Nita Neita Ogle were confirmed among the recovered victims. On February 6, their joint funeral was held at 10 a.m. from the Bonney-Watson undertaking parlors in Seattle. A large number of friends attended, and the children were interred at Lakeview Cemetery, Seattle. A February 9 report announced the recovery of “another of the Ogle children, the oldest boy” (Ray), brought to the city on the Princess Beatrice. He was to be buried from the same parlors, alongside his siblings at Lakeview Cemetery. All of the Ogle children’s bodies were eventually recovered and buried together at Lakeview Cemetery (Memorial IDs for Ray, Neita, and Carl exist on Find a Grave). The parents, William Ogle and Maggie Miles Ogle, were listed among the lost; their bodies never recovered.